Sam "Freaking" Bennett

[Flaming Choy]

I was listing to Overtime on the Fan960 last night and they kept saying they envisioned Bennett as the shutdown defensive centerman and Monahan/Gaudreau as the offensive line. For some reason, I always saw Monahan as the more defensive minded centerman and imagined the Bennett/Gaudreau pairing as the offensive line.

Just wondering what other people's thoughts are on this.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Flaming Choy

I was listing to Overtime on the Fan960 last night and they kept saying they envisioned Bennett as the shutdown defensive centerman and Monahan/Gaudreau as the offensive line. For some reason, I always saw Monahan as the more defensive minded centerman and imagined the Bennett/Gaudreau pairing as the offensive line.

Just wondering what other people's thoughts are on this.

That was my impression as well, pretty surprised we haven't seen them try it out yet.

[Wastedyouth]

Monahan is pretty weak in his own zone. Bennett is already better than he is.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Flaming Choy

I was listing to Overtime on the Fan960 last night and they kept saying they envisioned Bennett as the shutdown defensive centerman and Monahan/Gaudreau as the offensive line. For some reason, I always saw Monahan as the more defensive minded centerman and imagined the Bennett/Gaudreau pairing as the offensive line.

Just wondering what other people's thoughts are on this.

They're on crack. You need more than one scoring line in the NHL. Both Monahan and Bennett will be on those scoring lines. Some other center, like Backlund or Stajan or Arnold or Jankowski will be the shutdown guy. You don't waste talent like that in a checking role.

[SHOGUN]

Originally Posted by Flaming Choy

I was listing to Overtime on the Fan960 last night and they kept saying they envisioned Bennett as the shutdown defensive centerman and Monahan/Gaudreau as the offensive line. For some reason, I always saw Monahan as the more defensive minded centerman and imagined the Bennett/Gaudreau pairing as the offensive line.

Just wondering what other people's thoughts are on this.

Yeah I heard this too. I think it was Steinberg who compared Monahan/Bennett to Boston's Krejci/Bergeron, 1A/1B type centremen. Honestly, we don't know who'll be putting up more points in the future between Monahan and Bennett... obviously Monahan is more developed defensively and offensively right now, but I see Bennett being better offensively in the future than Monahan.

Bennett is also no slouch defensively either... he's such a puck hound that we can't really doubt his ability to be put on a defensive role.

[Poe969]

Bennett is only good defensively, he'll never score another goal again. Never.

That being said, I honestly don't think it's wrong to put Bennett out for any situation. The kid is just good, he'll out muscle guys in the offensive zone so he can get a scoring chance but he'll out muscle guys in the defensive zone just as much. He's the guy you use in every situation. The only time I can ever see him on the third line would be the Olympics or All Star game.

[TheScorpion]

^ What if there's an All-Star Game at the Olympics?

[Da_Chief]

Bennett looks more comfortable on the wing by the day. I'm hoping we win the lotto and get Matthews.

Btw I like Granlund's D game. He's getting better at faceoffs, pentaly kill, covering his man in the own zone. Just overall a good shutdown center.

Gaudreau-Matthews
Bennett-Monahan
Ferland-Granlund

Would be sweet.

[heep223]

Why would they put Granlund in that position when they have Backlund, who is better than Granlund in every way and is bigger.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Da_Chief

Bennett looks more comfortable on the wing by the day. I'm hoping we win the lotto and get Matthews.

Btw I like Granlund's D game. He's getting better at faceoffs, pentaly kill, covering his man in the own zone. Just overall a good shutdown center.

Gaudreau-Matthews
Bennett-Monahan
Ferland-Granlund

Would be sweet.

? He's terrible defensively

[Split98]

Funny as it'll sound, with Bennett, Monahan, Gaudreau and Brodie I actually don't care where we draft this year.

Would Puljujärvi with Bennett/Monahan and Gaudreau be great? Absolutely.

But I'm just as excited about Gauthier and Grundström with what we've seen from prospects the last couple years.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

Monahan is pretty weak in his own zone. Bennett is already better than he is.

This is hogwash.

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by Da_Chief

Bennett looks more comfortable on the wing by the day. I'm hoping we win the lotto and get Matthews.

Btw I like Granlund's D game. He's getting better at faceoffs, pentaly kill, covering his man in the own zone. Just overall a good shutdown center.

Gaudreau-Matthews
Bennett-Monahan
Ferland-Granlund

Would be sweet.

I really feel the only thing Granlund is missing is size. If he could bulk up in the off season I think we could really see his potential.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

Monahan is pretty weak in his own zone. Bennett is already better than he is.

Not sure if serious

[Bandwagon In Flames]

I think Bennett has a very underrated defensive game. The issue is that he's typically been on Backlunds wing so hasn't had much chance to show it off. He's such a tenacious player that wants to retrieve the puck more than anyone else on the ice.

I also think Monahan's defensive game is a bit overrated on these forums. He's average at best defensively. Doesn't have the same drive and determination to battle for the puck.

I do believe Bennett will take that #1 C spot in the next couple years. We'd probably be seeing it now but Hartley wants to have 2 good scoring lines which does make sense. I don't think Monahan has the ability to create opportunities for himself the way Bennett does.

[Benched]

Personally I like the idea of keeping Johnny and Bennett apart. Teams need to key on one of them with the shut down pair. If it's Monny-Johnny, then Bennett gets it slightly easier and will be more of a monster.

The Crosby-Malkin issue.

[GioforPM]

I think some people confuse being more physical, which Bennett obviously is, with better defence. Monahan has better positioning still. That's not to say Bennett will not get there, but he still has a lot of junior habits in him (at both ends of the ice).

IMO neither of them are as good as Stajan on defence. Backlund can be very good, but he can also be off defensively. And IMO neither Bennett or Monahan will be shutdown centres per se - they will be guys who are good enough defensively that you can generally go strength versus strength without much concern. But if you have a choice you might throw a larger defensive centre (Jankowski one day?) out against a Getzlaf.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Benched

Personally I like the idea of keeping Johnny and Bennett apart. Teams need to key on one of them with the shut down pair. If it's Monny-Johnny, then Bennett gets it slightly easier and will be more of a monster.

The Crosby-Malkin issue.

Plus, they both like to have the puck on their stick and it might not be the mesh that everyone thinks it would be.

I like the straight ahead style of Ferland (or Jones) with Gaudreau and the speed and backchecking of Frolik with Bennett.

[wingmaker]

Does anyone remember that Monahan's first season he played without Johnny? He still scored 22 goals and 34 points. Monahan may not be a flashy first line centre, but his points are legit. He is not just riding coat tails.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by wingmaker

Does anyone remember that Monahan's first season he played without Johnny? He still scored 22 goals and 34 points. Monahan may not be a flashy first line centre, but his points are legit. He is not just riding coat tails.

He was also sheltered in a 3rd line role with ample PP time. It was an impressive rookie season no doubt, but he was never having to score goals against top shutdown guys until being paired with Gaudreau on the top 2 lines.

Monahan is a great positional player in the offensive zone. He knows where he has to be in order to have success. Also great at battling for his space in the slot and keeping his stick free. But he typically relies on good passers to get him the puck, except for the occasional snipe off the rush.